2019 Notre Dame Football Preview

Digital Edition

Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133608

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 152 of 163

BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 151 cess, Hamilton went from a relatively un- known three-star recruit to a Nike Football The Opening Finals participant and a 2019 247Sports All-American. Hamilton is the son of Derrick Hamilton, a third-round selection in the 1988 NBA Draft, and the younger brother of Tyler Hamilton, a basketball player at Penn. The safety depth chart is crowded, but Hamilton has the combination of size and athleticism to push for early playing time. OFFENSIVE LINE U The tradition of greatness along the of- fensive line at Notre Dame may have hit its peak in the 2018 NFL Draft, when Irish standout guard Quenton Nelson and tackle Mike McGlinchey were taken No. 6 overall by the Indianapolis Colts and No. 9 by the San Francisco 49ers, respectively. That occurrence should pay off in the re- cruiting arena for years to come. In the class of 2018, Notre Dame signed four offensive linemen, all three-star pros- pects on Rivals, including Arkansas product Luke Jones, who left the program during spring practice. Even with the departure of storied of- fensive line coach Harry Hiestand and the promotion of former analyst Jeff Quinn to the position, Notre Dame brought in four four-star prospects, three of whom landed in the final Rivals250 for the class of 2019. Although Hiestand started the process with each of the prospects prior to his depar- ture, Quinn finished the job. Any doubts that he deserves credit for the recruiting efforts were erased in May of 2019 when he reeled in Notre Dame's top overall 2020 offensive line target in Phoenix Pinnacle four-star of- fensive tackle Tosh Baker. The highest-rated player of the 2019 bunch was Edina (Minn.) High's Quinn Car- roll, who committed to Notre Dame on May 2, 2018 and ended the cycle at No. 68 in the Rivals100. Cincinnati Anderson four- star Zeke Correll, who committed to Notre Dame on June 18, came in at No. 114 and participated in the 2019 Under Armour All- American Game. Metuchen (N.J.) St. Joseph's four-star John Olmstead committed to Notre Dame on April 20 and landed at No. 118. Gibso- nia (Pa.) Pine-Richland four-star Andrew Kristofic, who committed to Notre Dame three days after Olmstead on April 23, was a consensus four-star recruit who was ranked No. 120 nationally by 247Sports and No. 228 by ESPN, and started at offensive tackle in the 2019 All-American Bowl in San Antonio. The group was rated by Rivals as the third- best haul in the country at the position, and all four enrolled early at Notre Dame and participated in spring practice. LITCHFIELD AJAVON'S JOURNEY TO NOTRE DAME There's a strong chance that when Litch- field Ajavon was born on May 19, 2001, nobody around him would have imagined that anything he has accomplished was even remotely possible. Ajavon, a four-star safety recruit set to enroll at Notre Dame in June, was born in- side the Budburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, Africa, where his family fled in order to escape the civil war in Liberia. Six years later, Ajavon's grandfather decided to make a change for his family and began work on bringing his grandson and his mother to the United States. The family eventually settled in Balti- more, but their troubles didn't stop there. Ajavon said he nearly succumbed to the pressures of the inner-city streets. "I was so blessed to have a strong network of people around me, and a set of values and morals to guide me through everything," Ajavon said. "Luckily, I had that, unlike most of my friends, some that are near to my heart who are either dead, selling drugs on the streets or in jail." After a childhood and adolescence that saw him journey through an African refugee camp and the streets of a city where more than 300 people a year are murdered, Ajavon found a home at Alexandria (Va.) Episcopal. When his football career began to take off, he stockpiled offers from major programs across the country, including Notre Dame, Recruiting Responsibilities DelVaughn Alexander (wide receivers coach) — Wide receivers anywhere Lance Taylor (running backs) — Running backs anywhere Mike Elston (defensive line) — Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan Jeff Quinn (offensive line) — Offensive linemen Clark Lea (defensive coordinator) — Defensive prospects, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama Chip Long (offensive coordinator) — Tight ends and general offensive prospects anywhere Tom Rees (quarterbacks) — Quarterbacks, Kansas and Wisconsin Todd Lyght (cornerbacks) — Texas and Michigan Terry Joseph (safeties) — Safeties, Louisiana and Georgia Brian Polian (special teams/recruiting coordinator) — Illinois, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawai'i and the rest of the West region Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic was one of four four-star offensive linemen to sign with Notre Dame in 2019. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview - Digital Edition